February 28th.
We are 59 days into 2025.
Dear reader, did you set any new year´s resolutions? Any big goals for this year? How are they unfolding for you?
Perhaps they´re unfolding exactly as you had hoped them to, perhaps not. Maybe you´ve let some slide away, talked yourself out of pursuing them, or maybe you set the bar just too high? Or maybe, you´re like me and you´ve never really got on board with the concept of new year´s resolutions. Some might say that´s the rebellious Aquarius in me, swerving the trends of the masses.
Personally, for me, new year´s resolutions feel like another consumerist construct that´s there to fool you into investing X amount into a new gym membership, a new set of health supplements, a new diet plan, a new this, a new that... all with the aim of giving you a ´glow-up´ - but what if we don´t actually *need* an annual winter glow-up, what if that´s not natural for us?
Statistics show that a majority of failed new year´s resolutions are dropped by February. But why is that?
I actually think a more important question should be, why are we using the depths of winter to pour a load of energy, time & money into self-improvement and
chasing unrealistic goals? Get outside and take a look around during the weeks before and after January 1st - what do you notice? For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, daylight hours are much shorter than in the height of summer, temperatures are lower and the weather can be unpredictable. Some animals go inward, quite literally, and go into hibernation mode until spring comes around. Deciduous trees that shed their leaves during autumn stand bare. Nature takes a break. So why should we be pressured to reinvent ourselves, when mother nature is clearly not using this as a time of creation?
Since moving to Ibiza, I´ve been able to tune into my surroundings and become more aware of the cycles of nature. For many, there are two seasons here. Winter and summer. Off-season and tourist season. But for a beautiful few weeks in February, you can literally feel the island waking up to spring. The almond trees are in blossom and there´s a gorgeous carpet of tiny yellow flowers that cover the island. From March, there are mesmerising flocks of swallows, bee-eaters and other migratory birds that make a pit-stop in the Balearics as they fly from Africa to Northern Europe. Signs of autumn can be seen in the same migrating flocks of birds, seemingly dancing in the skies from September to November. Markets become replenished as the harvest season kicks off, and you´ll be able to see many trees in full fruit, with produce such as figs and pomegranates.
I digress, back to new years´ resolutions. My point is that they don´t flow with the cycles of nature. So if you´ve been beating yourself up about not sticking to or even setting any huge goals on January 1st, there´s no need to panic.
Today welcomes a New Moon in Pisces, which is actually the final new moon of the astrological year. It´s a great time to reflect on the past year, and consider any challenges or setbacks you´ve faced. What can you learn from them?
If you did set some new years´resolutions, but haven´t stuck to them, why don´t you use the energy of this new moon to set small steps to get back on track with your goals? Or maybe you want to scrap them altogether, and tune in deeper to the cycles of nature. New moons offer a wonderful opportunity to dream and visualise and set intentions for the month ahead. Rather than focusing on a complete re-invention (which is often the case with new years resolutions), you could view a new moon as a time to focus on smaller things. What experiences do you want to have over the next 28 days? What do you want to do/feel/see more (or less) of?
Let me know in the comments!
...
Ciao for now,
Teacher Charlie
Add comment
Comments